Unrepentant

Lynne Stewart, the convicted and disbarred attorney who assisted Sheikh Abdel Rahman pass messages along to his minions here in the US and overseas to Israel, spoke at Hofstra Law School last night.

Her message was loud and clear.

Stewart helped Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted of planning a massive terror-bombing campaign in New York, pass messages to an Egyptian associate posing as a translator while she pretended to ask questions.

She later called her performance Academy Award-worthy, but yesterday said that was "an unfortunate remark."

She called Abdel-Rahman himself "a remarkable man," and said, "Yes, I would do it again, but I would do it differently."

Stewart said even though she represents clients who are reviled, "I don't do cops who kill kids on the streets of Brooklyn."

She should be tossed in prison to carry out her well-deserved sentence immediately.

She got off lightly with a 28 month sentence because the judge thought that Stewart did a good job representing unpopular clients.

Well, that shouldn't have stopped the judge from imposing the 30 year sentence demanded by the prosecutors. She's unrepentant and had no problems ignoring agreements with the prosecution not to pass messages between her client, who was responsible for plotting terrorist attacks against the US, including the 1993 WTC bombing and the landmarks terrorist plot, and preached jihad and hatred of the US at every turn. There is zealous representation of a client, and there is breaking the law. It's a white line - and Stewart trounced it.

The court has also refused to send her to prison based on defense submissions that Stewart should receive treatment for breast cancer.

I don't have a problem with her receiving treatment for cancer - they can do it while she's serving time in prison. That she's well enough to go do this program at Hofstra (hey, if she's disbarred that should disallow the CLE for the program at Hofstra), shows the thinness of her pleadings.

The court has been overly lenient in her case.

I suspect that the only thing Stewart would do differently is that she'd be more careful in avoiding getting caught. She had no problem with assisting her client pass messages of hate and incitement to his followers.

Jammie has more.

UPDATE:
The NYT report on her appearance at Hofstra fleshes things out a bit more, and definitely supports my contention that she'd do the same thing again, so long as she was more careful to avoid being caught:

She admitted to having been “cavalier” in the way she followed certain regulations governing communications with her client, but argued that the human bond between a lawyer and client is critical to the lawyer’s role as legal adviser.

“I was representing a client, and I would do it again, but I would do it in a way that would better insulate me,” she said. Her main regret was having been unaware that the government was secretly taping her conversations with Mr. Rahman, she said.

Ms. Stewart is free on bail pending an appeal of her conviction, She was sentenced to serve 28 months in prison.